Heart of the Home Forde Family
“After waiting ten years for a renovated kitchen, seeing my mom’s face when she walked in and saw her new kitchen!”
When initially contacted in the late fall of 2021 Sharon Forde was elated to hear that her family home was selected to be a part of our Home Improvement Pilot Program. HANDS’ Home Improvement Pilot Program, first developed and rolled out in early 2021, selected ten owner-occupant homes located in the Heart of Orange Neighborhood (area bounded by Main Street, Central Avenue, Scotland Road and the East Orange border) with grants up to $10,000 to upgrade their greatest asset by making structural, energy efficiency, safety, and quality of life improvements to their homes.
As a part of our program initiative, we paired the Forde family with local contractor Donyea Hoffman of Right on Time Construction & Design. After discussing what improvements were to be made in the home –the heart of the home, the kitchen was selected. Kitchens are the central hubs of families creating not only a place to cook, but to dine in an intimate space! The work took just 3 weeks to complete. During an update call we had with Forde she was overjoyed with how seamless the process was. “Our experience with the program was amazing and we are so thankful we were given this great opportunity,” Forde also shared the increase in property value was most beneficial.
The mission of our programmatic efforts at HANDS is to improve household sustainability and home equity. We are doing just that. Check out the amazing transformation and stay tuned for more stories and information about our economic empowerment programs by visiting our website (insert link) and following us on – insert sites for updates!
